The CESCR has criticised what it described as Ireland's "highly restrictive legislation on abortion and its strict interpretation thereof", and its "criminalization of abortion, including in the cases of rape and incest and of risk to the health of a pregnant woman."
Abortion is constitutionally permitted only when a woman's or girl's life is at 'real and substantial risk', and carries a possible 14-year prison sentence in all other circumstances.
[7] The commission had frequently stated in its reports that this provision is overly wide and cannot have been the intention of the legislature, except where groups are involved in campaigning at elections or referendums.
Amnesty Ireland stated that they were not going to obey the commission's instruction to return the funding, as it considered it a violation of its – and other Irish NGOs' – rights to freedom of association and expression.
[11] The campaign promotes resettlement policies by Ireland and the international community and focuses on three main areas: